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No Kissing Allowed: Kiss of Love Protests in India Disrupted by Police

Protests organizer’s play to protest through the art of lip smacking was stopped early on by police. Approximately 50 individuals were detained in the city of Kochi on Sunday early on during the protests, which was meant to be a social protest against moral policing in the country. The plan was for protesters to express love publicly through kissing, holding hands, and other affectionate actions, which is considered shameful conduct in India.

These self-proclaimed Free Thinkers clashed with conservative Hindu and Muslim organizations who quickly became violent with the PDA protesters. Police stopped the organizers and took them into “preventative custody” before they could convene at the Marine Drive Grounds, the venue for their protest. The police also went ahead and dispersed those crowds waiting to see the protest unfold.

The Youth Congress and Students Federation of India are for the protests and the message it sends while the Kerala Students Union is strongly opposing the protest as shaming Indian traditions. The planned event was expected to bring thousands of onlookers from both sides of the fence.

The ‘Kiss of Love’ organizers claimed today that their Facebook has been hacked alongwith 5 individual’s accounts. Rahul Pasupalan, one of the Kiss of Love organizers, made a statement on the issue. “We strongly suspect an online team which is against us to be behind the hacking… They also created vulgar posters of the women members,”

These hackers are also suspected to be members of those conservative groups who were ready and armed to face the protesters Sunday.

The group has a new Facebook page for the Kiss of Love now and have formed a new group page for the ‘Free Thinkers’ for the purpose of “debates and discussions on topics such as religion, politics, rationalism, science, art, cinema, literature and travel. Debates and discussions should be issue-based and in decent language with mutual respect.”

Throughout generations, new and old principles clash. No matter the culture, the race, or the issue, generational divides are a central part of progressions and transformations of public opinion. Questioning traditions that have been upheld for decades always leads to strong backlash and those who see those traditions as integral to their culture will always fight to keep them.

Time and again through history, social issues and laws are challenged and it’s through these kinds of clashes that entire generations are defined. Only time will tell which side history will favor.

What Do You Think?…

Are the Free Thinkers in a losing battle? What are your feeling regarding moral policing in India? Is it an important moral law that defines a culture or an outdated tradition that is harmful to the country?